Break Me Out
by Esquinzo
Summary: Gibbs takes a case too far, setting things in motion whose implications he isn't even aware of until everything changes.
1. Prologue

Prologue

"Special Agent Gibbs, my office, now!"

It seemed the agents in the bullpen collectively ducked their heads as the director bellowed out her orders from the catwalk, her green eyes glittering dangerously. Jenny Shepard had only been appointed Director of NCIS a few weeks ago but her fights with Gibbs had already earned a certain reputation around the Navy Yard. To outsiders they seemed almost violent whereas Ziva and Ducky – knowing more than the rest of them, according to Tony – eyed them in a curious mixture of interest, sadness, and a hint of concern.

Gibbs got out of his chair provocatively slowly but took the stairs two at a time as soon as the redhead had turned around and stormed back to her office.

"What the hell do you think you're doing," she hissed as he slammed the door behind him. "I know you think this is Paris take two and you can still do what you want and I am never going to say anything – but so help me God, Jethro, it isn't!"

"Yes, Jen?" he asked sarcastically, walking around her desk and invading her personal space, basically making her crane her neck to be able to look him in the eyes.

"Yes, Jethro," she confirmed, refusing to be intimidated. "I don't know how many times I told you not to take it too far but you just ignore every single one of my orders!" she continued, her voice getting progressively louder. "There is yet another suspect complaining about how you treated him during your investigation, he claims you deliberately injured him by pushing him into a car to get him to confess."

"Jeez, Jen, he was guilty! He attempted to murder two of his fellow Marines and I got him to talk. The evidence in his house would've been enough to convict him anyways, it wasn't even as if I'd needed his confession," he gave back, seemingly uncaring.

"This is besides the point and you know it! The integrity of this whole agency depends on the standard each and every agent holds themselves to and you just stomp over it all, not caring about how that makes us look!" Jenny stabbed an accusing finger in his direction, her face flushed with rage.

"You mean when the press actually takes long enough to care what NCIS stands for?" he snorted. "You were a perfectly fine agent, Jen, I don't know why you gave that up for the pure politics that is the director's job!"

"Don't try to make this about me, Special Agent Gibbs," she took a step back, inviting their formal titles into the argument. "You went too far and you're not even willing to admit it. I managed to smooth this one over – barely – but I am not sure what will happen next time."

Gibbs looked at her through narrowed eyes. "Are you threatening to take my badge, Director? That would hurt you more than me – or this precious agency you are so worried about," he added sarcastically. "What happened to rule one, 'Never screw over your partner', Jen?"

"You're not my partner anymore, Agent Gibbs, I am your boss. And that is exactly why you will back down and follow my orders!"

"I am not sure if I was ever your partner at all. Maybe I was just someone in your way to the director's chair, someone you could throw to the curbs again as soon as you were done with them!" he bit back, intentionally trying to hurt her.

He saw her eyes gloss over with raw emotions and knew that it had worked, only now he wasn't sure if it had been such a good idea anymore. Leaving out the fact that she was now more hostile than ever, he could make out the distinct glimmer of vulnerability in her dark green orbs and knew he had gone too far –again.

"Jen," he began, trying to take at least some of the sting out of his earlier words.

"I believe we are quite done here, Special Agent Gibbs," she said, her words as icy as her eyes. "I don't think there is anything more left to say, you can go back to the bullpen now. Please make sure to pass my orders on to your team," she finished with practiced monotony as she sat down in her chair, pulling a file from one of the piles over to her.

"Jen, I know that –"

"Is there anything else you need, Special Agent Gibbs?" she asked, not lifting her eyes from the paper.

He shook his head. "No, Director," he answered with clenched teeth and turned around.

She felt hollower than ever as she heard the door slamm into its lock in his wake.

* * *

This is going to be my first English multi-chapter story in a long time :) Please tell me what you think!


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"What do you have, DiNozzo?" Gibbs barked as he stormed back into the squad room, a fresh cup of steaming hot coffee in his hand. He took a sip, deliberately scalding his tongue.

"We got some DNA from the skin underneath the victim's fingernails, Abby is running it through the system as we speak. Ducky thinks he might have gotten sloppy or someone could've interrupted him, however, as of yet we don't have anything to link him to the other murders yet, save for his MO of course," DiNozzo answered, grabbing the remote control from his desk and pulling the photo of their latest victim up. They had chased the guy for almost three weeks but he'd always seemed to be one step ahead of them – until a fourth body had turned up the day before and they had finally gotten a lead.

"Ziva, could you get anything on the victim?"

She began rattling off the facts about the young woman but he only listened half-heartedly. Something was bugging him about this victim, a strange sense of familiarity. He stared at deadly pale skin and the freckles dusting the bridge of her nose as the Israeli changed the picture on the screen.

"He seemed to have been her boyfriend, there are a lot of photos with him that date about four months back, however, after that there's nothing on him. I guess they broke up. It's a long haul, but I think it would be worth bringing him in for questioning unless Abby finds something…," she trailed off. "Are you alright, Gibbs?"

He was still mesmerized by the picture on the screen, not so much by the man with their victim, but by the woman herself. Suddenly he could place his sense of déjà-vu. Her eyes were of a vibrant forest green, almost identical to the redhead's working away in her corner office one floor above them.

The special agent squared his shoulders and shook himself out of his state almost violently. "Yes, Ziva," he brushed her off brusquely. "I'm going to Abby's. You two look into her last days, find me anything unusual!"

He entered the lab just as one of her machines binged and Abby turned around to scamper over there to look at the results.

"Gibbs!" she exclaimed happily, almost running over to him. "I knew you were magic! Your powers brought you here in exactly the right moment, I just got the results back myself, I haven't even had the time to call you yet!"

"Abby, breathe," he ordered gruffly and handed her usual Caf!Pow over. She grabbed it gladly and took a long sip before she spun around and pulled a file up on her computer. "Gibbs, meet former Lieutenant Jonathan Lee, dishonorably discharged from the Navy in 2002. Ducky found his DNA under the victim's fingernails, there's a strong chance he's your guy." She began typing away on her keyboard until a map of the tristate area appeared on the screen. "It seems he lives not far away from Alexandria, I'll print out the address for you." The Goth smiled happily.

Gibbs nodded. "Good work, Abs." He leaned forward to kiss her cheek, then he turned to get his team and pick up this guy.

* * *

"DiNozzo, David, you go around the house, look if there is any other entrance. McGee, you'll come with me, we take the front," Gibbs instructed shortly before he watched how Tony and Ziva carefully get into position, then he forcefully knocked on the front door.

"Jonathan Lee, open the door!" He waited for a few seconds, then knocked again. "Federal Agents!" They heard an angry scream from within the house then he kicked in the door.

"NCIS, freeze! Jonathan Lee, you're under arrest for murder in four cases." Suddenly they saw a person sprinting down the stairs from the upper level, trying to get to the front door and flee. McGee and Gibbs sprinted after him, catching him on the porch and knocking him to the ground before he could so much as reach his car.

The younger agent slapped his cuffs around their suspect's wrists, roughly pulling him up again and reading him his Miranda rights. "Good work, McGee." Gibbs nodded in acknowledgement as they put him into the back of the van and headed back to the Navy Yard.

* * *

"Director?"

"Yes, Cynthia?" she asked, looking up from the file in front of her.

"Agent Gibbs and his team are back, they have a suspect in custody. I don't know how his lawyer found out about it already, but he just came up demanding to speak to his client," her secretary informed her.

Jenny sighed. "Send him in please, Cynthia."

The younger woman nodded and opened the door to a middle-aged man, maybe a few years older than she herself, clad fancily in a black suit with a bold tie. "Director Shepard, I am Winston Matheson, Mr. Lee's lawyer," he introduced himself as she reached out her hand for him to shake and then mentioned to the conference table.

She nodded and took the seat opposite him. "If you don't mind me asking, Mr. Matheson, how did you find out so quickly that my agents took your client into custody?"

"He called me as one of them banged on the door and yelled 'NCIS', that's when I got on my way here. But now I would really like to speak to him."

"I will take you down to our interrogation rooms personally," Jenny said trying to get on his good sight before Gibbs would do something to offend him. He got up and let her walk in front of him whilst she led him through their headquarters until they reached interrogation. She opened the door to the observation room and let him go in first, then she turned to the glass. What she saw almost made her throw a fit.

* * *

"We found your DNA under her nails," Gibbs snarled as he got up from his chair and violently placed a photo of victim number four in front of their suspect.

Lee took it into his hands and turned it over a few times before he put it back on the table. He shrugged his shoulders.

"You gonna say something?" The special agent prowled around the table as he suddenly slammed down his in front of their suspect. "What made you do it? Was it because they dishonorably discharged you? Or is it something deeper, some childhood trauma you never got over? Did mommy not have enough time for you?" he asked cynically.

"What is it with you, Agent Gibbs? Some kind of inferior complex?" Lee taunted him back. "Afraid you won't be able to protect that woman on your team?" he paused. "Or is there somebody else? Some looming mistake in your past," he guessed, watching the fire spark in his eyes.

"You bastard," Gibbs growled, pulling him forcefully out of his chair, images of Shannon and Kelly, of their bloody corpses playing in his mind. He pushed Lee up against the wall of the interrogation room, pressing his forearm against his throat. "You better tell me what you know and why you did, now, you hear me?" he whispered threateningly as the door was ripped open and Jenny stormed into the room.

"Special Agent Gibbs!" she screamed as Matheson as well as DiNozzo and McGee came into the room after her. "Unhand your suspect, now!"

He immediately took a step back and let their suspect fall to the floor as he turned to her, his blue eyes bright with fury. "Care to tell me what you're doing here, Jen?" he growled but she wasn't looking at him anymore.

"Mr. Matheson, I must apologize for Special Agent Gibbs' behavior," the redhead began but was interrupted as Lee picked himself up from the floor.

"I'm pressing charges! I'm gonna sue you, I'm gonna sue this whole goddamn agency!" he yelled, his face flushed with rage, but his eyes still cool and calculating.

"I would like to talk to my client now, Director Shepard," the lawyer answered, placing a special emphasis on her title as he glanced in Gibbs' direction. "I'll let you know what we'll decide," he said coolly.

Jenny looked defeated for a moment until Gibbs grabbed her arm to drag her out of interrogation, his glare murderous. She drew herself up to her full height, clearly battling the need to rip him a new one in front of his agents. "My office, now, Agent Gibbs!" she managed to press out between clenched teeth before she walked out of the room, Gibbs hot on her heels.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he snapped at her as soon as he'd slammed the door shut.

"What the hell was I thinking?" she repeated incredulously. "What were you thinking? It hasn't been a month since I last warned you off!" she screamed back. "This is a PR nightmare!"

"I don't care what it is," he gave back in the same volume. "He might get off just because you stormed in when you did!"

"His lawyer was standing behind the glass, if anything I saved you from an even more serious lawsuit!" She glared furiously glared at him. "And you should better care what we look like!"

"That's what you get for being a politician, Jen," he snarled. "You should've stayed a field agent, doing what you were good at!"

"Preferably under you, being your probie forever?" she bit back. "You just can't stand the fact that I'm your boss now," she accused him.

"I can't stand what you've become! The old Jen would've never kept me from putting a murderer behind bars, but you're too busy chatting up lawyers and senators to actually care!" he flung at her. "Morrow would've never done this!"

"Maybe because you never gave him a reason to! You've undermined my authority since I came back!" Jenny yelled at him.

He stared impassively at her for a few seconds. "I'm gonna get my confession now!" he announced, getting up.

"You're doing no such thing, Special Agent Gibbs. You'll go down to your desk and pray that they won't decide to press charges or I'm not sure what I'll do!"

Gibbs looked at her, his jaw set in a grim line before he stormed out of her office. She was acutely reminded of their argument a month ago that had ended pretty much like this one.

She buried her face in her hands. All of this wouldn't be so hard if she actually didn't know what she would do if they sued him, but alas, she knew. She'd always known – she'd break him out, because that's what she did, whether it was stealing a boat whilst they were undercover or covering for him again and again as director.

She felt like screaming but had to focus on not shedding the tears that slowly gathered in her eyes as she mentally took stock of their conversation. She'd always break him out, but it seemed he didn't even understand anymore that she'd always have his back.

* * *

First of all, thank you to everybody who left a review for the prologue, they are highly appreciated. Secondly, I am sorry that this chapter is so fragmented but I needed it to further set the scene for the actual plot of this story that really picks up at the end of this chapter/the beginning of the next. I hope you all still enjoy reading the story :)


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Mr. Matheson," she greeted warily as the lawyer entered her office, mentioning to the seat in front of her desk. "What can I do for you?"

"I talked to my client and we decided on a plan of action. Obviously he wants someone else to continue the investigation against him, it is clear to see Special Agent Gibbs is biased in his opinion of him. Moreover, he decided that he will be pressing charges against Special Agent Gibbs but he will not be suing this entire agency." He took in the relieved look on the redhead's face. She could work with only having to bail Gibbs out, having to bail the entire agency out would've been a whole other set of problems. "However," Matheson continued, "as there seems to be an unusual kind of familiarity between you, Director, and Special Agent Gibbs, I have allowed myself to inform SecNav's office of the accusations so that he may conduct the investigation."

Jenny leaned back in her chair taking great care not to let any of the emotions currently rushing through her be displayed on her face. "Very well," she forced herself to say, "I will expect a call from the SecNav then. I'll have my secretary call an agent up to escort you out of the building."

She shook his hand again and watched him leave her office, feeling as if someone had just handed her professional death sentence to her. It was only a few minutes later that her intercom buzzed.

"Yes, Cynthia?" she asked, trying to keep her voice levelled.

"SecNav is on line one for you, Director, he says it is urgent."

She briefly buried her face in her hands as she thought of the conversation with her boss. "Patch him through, please, Cynthia, and then go out for lunch." Just on the off-chance she'd lose it after this call, she didn't want anybody close by.

Jenny sighed a last time, then she took his call, immediately wishing she hadn't.

"Director Shepard," he began, his voice cold as ice. "Imagine my surprise when it was brought to my attention that there is another lawsuit against Agent Gibbs, implicating you as his accomplice who sweeps his misdeeds under the carpet before they can reach the public eye. Haven't I made myself clear when I told you that I didn't want to see another complain about Special Agent Gibbs last month?" he asked sarcastically.

"Sir, I –"

"I hope you are aware that this is a publicity nightmare, Shepard!" he barked. "I cannot suspend both, my director and my lead agent, but you better send Agent Gibbs home and take his badge for the duration of this investigation. And if I find even a hint of something fishy between you and Gibbs, that you used your influence to get him out of something or played favorites with him, so help me God, I'll not only have his badge!"

SecNav hung up on her without warning, leaving her with the task of suspending Gibbs.

* * *

It took her a few more minutes to mentally get ready for her confrontation with Gibbs but even then she took the stairs down from the catwalk at a much slower pace than she normally would.

"Special Agent Gibbs," Jenny addressed him as she finally stood in front of him.

"Yes, Director," he answered, drawing out the syllables of her title.

"Jonathan Lee has decided to press charges against you," she began but he interrupted her almost as soon as she had started her sentence.

"You can't be serious, Jen! You're really gonna let him push us around like that?" he asked, clearly outraged as he pushed his chair back and stood up, towering over her.

"Special Agent Gibbs!" she took a step back from him, trying to regain the upper hand in their conversation. "SecNav has decided that he wants an official investigation to look into the accusations against you. Moreover, your team is going to hand over the case to Agent Balboa's team, you are obviously too biased."

"You don't trust me to conduct my investigation anymore? I asked you a few months ago if you'd ever doubted me and you said no, Jen. I'm telling you this guy is guilty," he said insistently, lowering his voice.

"This is not a question of trust, Jethro," she tried to placate him.

"It's not? With you I think it always is," he replied, now more forcefully again.

"Please, Jethro, don't make this any more difficult on me than it already is," the redhead looked at him apprehensively. "SecNav has decided that you will be suspended for the duration of the investigation. You'll not be allowed to work any official cases anymore until your name is cleared or your fate at this agency is decided. Please hand over your badge and your service weapon."

For a few seconds neither of them said anything, even his team had fallen silent as if they knew what was going on between their boss and his. It was silent enough to hear a pin drop.

"You're not serious, Jen," Gibbs repeated his earlier words, this time incredulously.

"Jethro, there is nothing I can do, I cannot bail you out forever, SecNav –" she tried to explain but was interrupted once again.

"What the hell, Jen, don't try to tell me that you went out on a limb to save me or something. You're the director of this agency as you never get tired of telling me, if you'd wanted to do something, you would've done so. Don't tell me SecNav makes you do anything, you're so eager to prove yourself, you'd do anything. You went straight from junior agent to junior director!" he lashed out on her.

She stood rooted to the spot, her face flushed with rage and humiliation as she got painfully aware that probably every agent in the bullpen had heard his angry tirade.

"Special Agent Gibbs," Jenny hissed, trying to save face. "Hand over your badge and your service weapon, now!" She watched as he grabbed both from his desk drawer and thrust them at her, then he took his coat and brushed violently past her, storming to the elevators.

She fought the urge to scream in rage or to throw his gun at his retreating form and instead turned to DiNozzo, slamming them down on his desk. "You're in charge of the MCRT until Gibbs comes back," she instructed him shortly before she turned around and climbed up the steps to her office once more, choosing to ignore the cold stare Tony had fixed on her.

* * *

Gibbs rushed out of the Navy Yard, more furious than he could ever remember being. He could not believe that she'd actually taken his badge – threatening to do so was one thing, actually following through on it was on a completely different page. Maybe that was his problem, though, he mused as he sped down the street away from NCIS, he never actually expected her to follow through on anything, even if she had made it blatantly obvious that she had little in common with the woman he'd trained years ago anymore.

And if he was really honest with himself, she had never been one for empty words, even back then, her leaving him was probably the ultimate proof of that. That thought instantly made him angry again – she'd obviously never trusted him, why should he trust her now when she told him she hadn't had a choice?

It was as if he didn't know her anymore – or as if he'd never known her at all.

* * *

"Director, SecNav is on line to speak to you again," Cynthia informed her as she entered her outer office. It was only thanks to her extreme self-control that she suppressed an angry scream – her boss had just effectively ruined any chance of a normal working relationship or even friendship she'd still had with Gibbs – what more could he want?

"Thank you, Cynthia," she answered nevertheless, brushing a few strands of her red hair out of her face. "I'll talk to him right away."

Jenny mentally squared her shoulders when she entered her office, as if SecNav was physically present in the room, then she went over to her desk and answered the call.

"Director Shepard," he greeted, his voice still cool, "Assistant Director Vance will arrive tomorrow to head the investigation into Special Agent Gibbs' treatment of the suspect in his latest case. I have also instructed him to look into any past accusations against Gibbs. If there is anything you want to tell me relating to this topic, you should do it know."

She was silent for a few moments, thinking through her options. Yes, she'd bailed Gibbs out, repeatedly at that, but she'd never done so using anything even remotely illegal. She'd made her name count and her reputation, yet did that really matter? She knew she wouldn't throw him to the wolves, even after his accusation in the bullpen, no matter the cost.

"No, sir," she answered, "there isn't anything."

* * *

Thank you so much for the reviews! I really appreciate your opinions and kind words, they are very inspiring!


	4. Chapter 3

AN: Before you read this chapter, please keep in mind that Abby really didn't like Jenny and Ziva at all at the beginning of season three because she felt they were trying to replace Kate. Also, I feel Tony is very loyal to Gibbs and think that he would definitely be angry at Jenny in this situation because they don't have the kind of closer relationship they developed at the beginning of season four yet.

* * *

Chapter 3

"How could she do that?" Abby asked, hugging herself. "He's Gibbs. We need Gibbs, NCIS isn't the same without him."

"She was ice-cold about it," Tony mused. "Like – her eyes seemed really empty, as if she didn't feel anything."

"She's the devil," the Goth agreed, pressing Bert against her torso in an attempt to comfort herself. She had been near tears ever since Tony and McGee had come down to her lab to tell her the news, Ducky behind them.

"Abigail, Anthony, don't be too hard on Jennifer, I am sure she had her reasons," the elderly doctor tried to calm them. "If Gibbs really pressed his suspect up against the wall and his lawyer saw it, there was probably nothing she could've done as director without endangering her position and the agency as a whole."

"Why are you defending her?" Abby wondered incredulously. "She replaced Kate, she made me wear Career-Barbie-clothes, and she suspended Gibbs."

"You have not even known Jennifer for three months at this point, Abigail," Ducky defended his position, "I met her years ago. Believe me when I tell you she cares as much about Gibbs as you do, maybe even more so."

"Still, I don't want her here. I want Morrow to come back, he would've stood up for Gibbs, he would've never let anybody suspend him."

The ME sighed as another, heavily accented voice answered Abby from the doorway of the lab. "I don't think Director Shepard would appreciate you discussing her decisions down here," Ziva stated. "And I don't think she suspended Gibbs to spite you or him."

"Of course you would say that, you're her pet-assassin!" Abby burst out. "I am not sure what you are even doing down here, shouldn't you be up there with her?"

"Abigail," Ducky began to admonish her as the Israeli carefully arranged her features into a blank mask. "I came to get Tony and McGee, dispatch called, we have a new case," she responded emotionless, then she turned and went out of the lab.

* * *

After her confrontation with Gibbs and her phone call with her boss, Jenny had buried herself in paperwork until it was more than late enough for her to go home. She'd half expected him to show up on her doorstep, to start another shouting match or even clean the air between, but he'd stayed away and she'd chided herself for quietly hoping.

It had been long past midnight when she'd finally gone to bed but even then she'd found herself unable to sleep, instead she was tossing and turning, the events of her day running through her mind like a movie on repeat. This morning when she'd gotten up again, having slept for a minimal amount of time, she'd felt drained before her day even began, and not even the triple shot espresso on her way to work had been able to help her.

"Director?" she heard Cynthia's voice via the intercom. "Assistant Director Vance is here to speak to you."

"Send him in please, Cynthia," she answered as she got up from her desk, greeting Vance as he came into her office. "Leon, long time no see," she said with a forced smile on her face as she shook his hand.

He nodded, not verbally reciprocating her greeting, and took a seat at the conference table.

"I just need a little background from you before I can start my investigation, Director," he said as he took his notepad out of his briefcase. "What happened yesterday in the interrogation room?"

Jenny recounted the basics of the events, her gaze flitting through the room, only occasionally focusing on Vance.

"So Gibbs attacked Mr. Lee completely unprovoked?" he asked, a small grin on his face.

"I don't know what happened before I entered the observation room with Mr. Matheson," the redhead answered icily. "For all I know, Lee could've threatened him."

"But you did not see or hear Gibbs being provoked by the suspect?" he pressed.

"Leon, what do you want me to say? I don't know if he provoked Gibbs or not, I am definitely not saying anything that you can twist around and use against him!"

"Why are you so adamant about defending Gibbs?" Vance looked at her through narrowed eyes. "I get that you were partners…" he trailed off.

"It would look very bad for this agency if one of its agents were found guilty of any sort of crime," she responded warily.

"Bad enough for you to take measures to prevent agents from being found guilty, even though they might be?" he insisted. "Or only if it were one agent in particular? I have heard the rumors about you and Gibbs, back in the day almost everybody over in Europe knew or at least suspected there was more between you two than just a working relationship."

"Agent Gibbs and I were partners," she said firmly, "and I don't play favorites with him nor anybody else. If you're quite finished with your allegations, I would appreciate you doing your job and letting me do mine, my agency is lacking its lead agent and I have enough other stuff on my plate."

Jenny abruptly stood up from the table and went back to sitting behind her desk.

"A good day, Director Shepard," Vance said almost sarcastically before he closed the door behind himself.

* * *

She had spent the better part of her morning in MTAC overseeing operations in all parts of the world and only leaving very briefly for a few phone calls with other agency directors to sort out jurisdiction so she was naturally surprised when she saw a crowd of reporters gathering in front of their headquarters just outside the Navy Yard.

"Cynthia?" she asked the young woman on her way into her office, "what is going on out there?"

Her assistant visibly blanched at the side of her before she caught herself. "Hasn't anybody come to see you yet about it?" she asked back but Jenny just shook her head. Cynthia began typing on her keyboard and pulled up a news page, turning the screen to her boss. "Someone must have leaked what is going on, they are trying to prove that Special Agent Gibbs has a history of violence against suspects and witnesses – some of them probably have some kind of grudge against him because of prior cases – and are speculating that you are collaborating with him and cover up his missteps," she reported dutifully, not missing the redhead's suddenly rather pale complexion.

"Director, are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm just – yes, I'm alright," Jenny answered hesitantly, the wheels turning in her head. She didn't believe that one of Gibbs' team would've talked to the press, they wanted him to come back. She couldn't think of anybody within NCIS who'd access to all details of the story, so that only left Lee and his lawyer – and she couldn't do something against either of them without indirectly confirming their allegations.

"Thank you, Cynthia," she said finally as she turned on her heel and headed back to MTAC.

* * *

Gibbs had half thought about picking up Chinese and going over to her house, helping himself to her high-end bourbon while he waited for her to come home and let their dinner go cold. Then he had decided he wouldn't cave, this was Jenny's fault after all and he wouldn't crawl to her and apologize – in whatever disguised form – for something he wasn't sorry for at all. Then he remembered the other reason why he wouldn't go over: the memories of Shannon and Kelly that Lee's interrogation had dragged up were still too fresh in his mind and while he normally didn't confuse Jenny with Shannon, he couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't slip up in the argument they were bound to have and he wouldn't have her prying into his private life.

He went over to his workbench and poured himself another bourbon, knocking it back and effectively shutting up the nagging little voice in the back his head that told him she wouldn't be prying if he'd just told her years ago. Gibbs was just about to put new sandpaper on his sander when he heard the news coming on from the battered old radio in the corner of his basement.

"…the director of the agency, Jennifer Shepard, has allegedly turned a blind eye on her lead agent's interrogation methods, even going so far as encouraging him further. What do you think about that, Bob?" the news anchor asked his co-host.

Gibbs tuned their voices out as he turned back to his boat, chuckling wryly. They'd be pleased to know that those allegations were false, the Jenny Shepard he knew was still far too ambitious to risk anything for him.

* * *

"What is it, Director?" SecNav asked with an annoyed undertone as his picture became clearer on the large screen in MTAC.

Jenny swallowed, she didn't want to know where this video call would end if it began like this. "You have surely heard of or seen what the big networks headline about NCIS at the moment," she began carefully.

"I sure have, Shepard!" he gave back angrily, "my office has been trying to contain the damage since the news broke this afternoon!"

"I believe I might have a solution to this PR nightmare," she continued, sounding more confident than she really felt. He grunted and made a vague movement with his hand to show her to go on. "I think it would be best if we showed a united front in the face of this media attack, without seeming closed off, of course."

"And how would you suggest we do that?" he asked sarcastically, his voice taking on a belittling quality.

"We reinstate Special Agent Gibbs to show that the agency stands together but at the same time let Vance continue his investigation and pledge ourselves to allowing the public access to all findings that are not related to classified missions. This way we can demonstrate our commitment to seeing this through and reforming the way our agents treat the civilians involved in their cases," she explained.

"Reinstating Gibbs would be a PR debacle! There is no reason for us to do this, the press would destroy us!" her boss shot her down immediately.

"With all due respect, sir, Agent Gibbs is the best agent this agency has. I know that he has unconventional methods and I am going to reign him in, but he gets the job done. His success rate is higher than that of any other agent," Jenny argued back.

"Why are you so interested in bringing Gibbs back? Is there any truth in the rumors about you and him?"

Jenny bit her lip in frustration. Why did people see everything she did in context to Gibbs? Wasn't she her own person? "No, sir. I have not ever played favorites with any agent or team, and I don't intend to do so either," she replied tightly, keeping her temper in check.

He nodded. "Agent Gibbs will be reinstated on Monday, but Assistant Director Vance will continue his investigation. I will be part of any action taken against Agent Gibbs, I want to know about it as soon as there is only the smallest hint of an accusation against him. Understood, Shepard?" She nodded. "And if there's just a small thing that seems off about this, I'll have your badge, too!"

* * *

Thank you so much for the reviews for the last chapter, I appreciate them so much! I really hope you liked the new chapter too, please leave a review with thoughts/wishes/ideas, I'll try to implement what I can!


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Mr. Secretary," she greeted tightly. The last week had been calm, too calm really, and now she was thinking that might have been the calm before the storm. Her boss looked relatively relaxed, but the vein behind Vance's temple, who was following the SecNav into her office, seemed ready to pop. He turned the tooth pick in the corner of his mouth, then threw it into her trash bin and sat down at the head of the conference table as if he owned the place – or maybe thought he would, soon.

"What can I do for you?" Jenny asked as she got up from behind her desk, trying to look in control of the situation. As far as she knew, nothing major had gone down, but she liked to err on the side of caution.

"Assistant Director Vance has invited me over to discuss the results of his investigation, I thought you might like to be present," her boss informed her as he took the seat next to Vance, mentioning for the redhead to sit down opposite to him.

"Well then, Leon, what could you find out?" she started, elegantly crossing her legs.

Vance clenched his teeth a little and fumbled for another toothpick in the inner pocket of his suit jacket with one hand whilst he opened the folder he had brought with him with the other. "It appears that even though Special Agent Gibbs has a reputation for using 'unconventional methods'," he made quotation marks in the air with his fingers, "no one is willing to say or saying outright that these regularly involve roughing up or pressuring suspects to confess," Vance began. "However, there have been individual instances where Agent Gibbs was accused of psychologically manipulating suspects or witnesses in interrogation by causing startling loud noises or by leaving them alone in the room for extended periods of time."

Jenny snorted. "That's standard investigation procedure, Vance," she said. "It's called letting a suspect stew until they're willing to talk. If you don't have anything more concrete or valuable to the question at hand, then I don't know what we're doing here."

SecNav looked back and forth between the two of them, a deep frown on his forehead but opting to be silent for the moment as he nodded to Vance to continue.

"You see, Director," he said with a mock emphasis on her title, "there were indeed other instances that made me curious. As a matter of fact, they all involved Agent Gibbs and you." He paused for a moment as if to heighten the dramatics of the situation. "There were several reports of Special Agent Gibbs acting almost violently against members of the press, in one instance he is said to have tried to restrict the freedom of speech, a constitutional right. However, all of these reports also say that the director of the agency offered to meet up with the journalists concerned, issued statements, and even took one reporter to dinner, this reporter being the one who's constitutional rights Agent Gibbs sought to restrict," he ended, sounding more like a counselor in court than a bureaucrat quoting from a file.

"Well, Jennifer?" SecNav asked, lifting his eyebrows expectantly as he looked at her.

"All of what Assistant Director Vance has said is true, however, I still fail to see where this is supposed to incriminate me. Smoothing things over with the press and present NCIS in a positive light are vital parts of my job. None us of wants to read about the agency in the context of some impromptu interview gone wrong, I merely made sure that wouldn't happen," she said with a casual shrug of her shoulders, keeping an icy mask on her face.

"And the fact that you have only ever done such a thing for Agent Gibbs?" Vance tried to corner her.

"Has probably more to do with the fact that Special Agent Gibbs has never learned to play nicely with others than with me playing favorites with him," the redhead answered loftily.

"So you do agree that Agent Gibbs provokes reporters and causes incidents that make you go to great lengths to make them disappear again?" he pressed.

"You're twisting my words, Leon," she responded as calmly as she could. "Gibbs does just not have the most agreeable personality. Look," she continued, this time turning to the SecNav, "everything Assistant Director Vance has presented so far is nothing that makes Agent Gibbs seem more prone to violence than any other agent, the only issue here seems to be his character and his aversion to the press. Those are no reasons to suspend him for longer periods of time and even fire him, though," she tried to reason with him. "I will keep him away from the press, then this problem should be out of the world."

SecNav nodded slowly, considering her speech. "I agree, Director," he said as Vance's features became surlier. "However, my premise still stands. One hint of something fishy, then –"

He didn't have to complete his sentence, Jenny was already nodding. "Well then, Director, Assistant Director, I have more urgent matters that require my attention."

He stood up and left the room, Vance hot on his heels no doubt trying to convince SecNav to let him have her chair.

* * *

The weeks had passed and due to her word, Jenny had tried to keep Gibbs away from the press as much as possible. Gibbs being Gibbs of course had soon caught on and had come storming into her office, almost shaking the walls with the volume at which he demanded to know why she kept giving the high-profile cases away to other, less specialized teams.

She had insisted that wasn't the case but Gibbs' mocking gaze to her twitching right eye had convinced her she wasn't fooling anybody. Thus, she had had to resort to more drastic measures, meaning her Israeli Mossad-assassin friend. Ziva, in turn, had resorted to various office supplies when she had cornered McGee in the elevator to have a friendly chat with him about how he would be the team's official spokesperson if the press turned up at one of their crime scenes. McGee had blanched and agreed and – so far – had done an admirable job.

Today, though, the young agent had looked flustered when they came back from the field and kept warily eying Ziva when her hand strayed too far in the direction of her stapler. Gibbs on the other hand looked furious while the Israeli herself murderous when she looked at her teammates and suspiciously guilty whenever she saw Jenny on the catwalk.

"What is it, Ziva?" the redhead asked when she came down to the bullpen during her lunch break, ignoring the cold looks the rest of the team sent her way.

The Mossad officer got up and led the way to the windows where she answered in hushed Hebrew, "You might want to watch the news before your boss gets here."

"Why?" Jenny kept digging, still staring at her friend.

"Gibbs ordered McGee to get to the crime scene with Ducky today, and when he arrived the damage was mostly done," Ziva informed her.

"And?"

"McGee wanted to get the press to get off Gibbs because he was getting fed up with them, so he came over and told them that NCIS would issue a statement regarding the case later in the day when we have more details. Gibbs got angry at the probie getting in front of the press so he slapped him on the back of the head and of course, the journalists there went cashew after that – "

"Nuts," Jenny corrected automatically as Ziva sent her a confused look. "Go on, though," the redhead told her hurriedly.

"Anyways, they went mad so Gibbs got angry and told them if they didn't back of, they'd get a head slap, too. McGee tried to remedy that but Gibbs just glared at him so he shut up. The journalist didn't have any of that though and pushed their microphones in his face until he brushed them off, but one of them fell down when he did that and the rest of them caught that on camera," Ziva finished in a hurry. "So you see it was really a lot of bad luck but it is going to look worse than it was."

Jenny sighed, burying her face in her hands. "I can't believe this. How can that always happen to him? Is he that socially incompatible?"

Ziva reached out her hand and carefully touched her friend's shoulder, smiling at her. "I am sure you'll find a way out of this, Jenny, you always do."

The redhead smiled back tightly, touched by the gesture, when the elevator on the catwalk level opened and SecNav stepped out, followed by Leon Vance.

"Director Shepard," he bellowed through the bullpen, "your office, NOW!"

* * *

I hope you feel this isn't more of the same, but I promise I'm going somewhere with this story and it will become clear soon (at the latest at the end of the next chapter!) so please bear with me.

I love your revies and I am hoping for more :)


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

* * *

When Ziva came back to her desk, Tony was silently gloating.

"What?" the Israeli questioned aggressively, sending him an icy glare. Tony shrugged, still looking far too smug for her liking.

"She deserved that," he said finally.

"Yes?" Ziva challenged quietly. "Whatever for?"

"The way she treated Gibbs when she suspended him? She basically fired him in the middle of the bullpen, it serves her right that she has her boss yelling at her in front of everybody for once!" he said maliciously.

"And how do you think Gibbs got his job back? Because the SecNav is so forgiving and Vance isn't looking for an opportunity to stab them in the back, Gibbs as much as Jenny? I don't think so. If it weren't for Director Shepard, Gibbs would still sit in his basement and sand down his boat!" she defended her friend.

"DiNozzo, David, both of you back to work!" Gibbs barked as he stormed into the bullpen, giving the half-Italian a hard head slap. "Director Shepard's actions don't concern either of you!" He grabbed his badge and gun as well as his wallet from his desk drawer, shooting both of them a harsh glare. "Going for coffee!"

Ziva looked after her boss as he stormed off again, thinking back to the long nights she and Jenny had spent on stakeouts a lifetime ago in Cairo. She had pretty much pieced together that he was the man the redhead had been so hung up about back then – and if she was honest with herself probably still was hung up about today– but she couldn't see the strict but fair and privately even sweet man Jenny had on occasion talked about. It seemed his actions towards her friend were solely coined by resentment and anger these days. She sighed quietly, looking up to the corner office where the director was with her second-in-command and her boss, probably once again bailing Gibbs out in her never-ending attempts to make leaving him up to him.

* * *

"This is a PR nightmare, Shepard!" SecNav barked, stabbing the air in front of her with his finger. "We should've suspended him for longer; maybe that would've taught him a lesson."

"Letting Special Agent Gibbs come back to work was the right decision. He hasn't caused any trouble in the weeks after his suspension, this accident has been a huge misunderstanding from the beginning," she tried to defend her decision.

"A misunderstanding, Shepard? Have you even seen the footage yet?" he yelled on.

Her jaw flexed, she hadn't, she was going on what Ziva had told her so far. Mutely she shook her head, the fire had gone out in her eyes and she felt as if the floor had been pulled out from under her feet.

Vance snorted quietly from where he leant against her desk, looking smug in his knowledge that she wouldn't get out of this one unscathed. He picked up the control and turned on the TV over her couch; Gibbs' face was already plastered all over ZNN. They had a tape of him roughly brushing away the microphones in front of him when he caught the arm of a female reporter who consequently tripped and fell to the ground with the caption 'Federal Agent violently attacks MSNBC reporter' running beneath it.

"That doesn't look like a misunderstanding to me, Shepard!" SecNav started again, "this is a violent assault."

Jenny swallowed, she knew she should back down if she wanted to keep her job. "Do you have anything to say, Director?"

"I think we can all see that Agent Gibbs did not try to hit her but instead accidentally caused her to stumble and then fall. Agent McGee is directly next to him and even helps the journalist to her feet again. I am sure we can contest their portrayal of this incident as a 'violent attack'," she reasoned.

"Why are you doing this, Shepard?" her boss asked incredulously. "You've got good instincts, you're a shrewd politician, otherwise I wouldn't have appointed you, so why are you throwing all of this away? Aren't your instincts telling you to just drop Gibbs and secure your job?"

"Are you firing me, Sir?" she asked back. "I guess you announced that you would take my badge," Jenny said, carefully keeping her voice leveled as she opened her desk drawer and took out her badge and her service weapon.

SecNav pressed his lips together, unprepared to face that decision just yet, he hadn't expected her to push him to it. "Get me Agent Gibbs up here, now!" he ordered instead.

The redhead allowed herself a small smile as she put her insignias back into her desk, the risk had payed off. At least for the imminent future she wouldn't have to fear being fired. However, in the pit of her stomach a bad feeling manifested and she couldn't shake the feeling that she would be better off outside NCIS, even if this was all she had ever worked for. After all, she had always thought it was better to leave before one was pushed.

* * *

"What the hell, Jen," he barked as he slammed the door to her office into the wall. Gibbs looked over to her vacant desk, the director herself was sitting on the conference table with the SecNav and Vance.

"Take a seat, please, Special Agent Gibbs," she said, her professional mask not slipping at all although a slight flush of embarrassment coated her cheeks at the raised eyebrows of the other two men.

"Sir," he greeted the secretary out of respect for the office, ignoring the assistant director as he sat down opposite of his boss. "Director Shepard," he said again more formally but the glare she sent in his direction told him the damage had been done.

"Gibbs, I had you ordered up here because of your behavior this morning. Attacking a reporter is inexcusable and not only generates bad publicity for NCIS but for the Navy as a whole, including my office," SecNav began, now much more diplomatically than he'd been only minutes before.

"They provoked me!" the special agent automatically started defending himself, but he was cut off again almost as soon as he'd started.

"I don't care. They provoke you, you go past them, they asked you for an interview, you tell them to talk to NCIS spokesperson or to call Cynthia," Jenny hissed before the SecNav could say anything again.

"There will be consequences this time," SecNav announced just as his mobile started to ring. He got up and left the room to take the call, Vance trotting behind him like a loyal St. Bernard.

"This time around?" Gibbs repeated cynically, "as opposed to last time when my director so wonderfully had my back and saved me from suspension?" he continued sarcastically in Jenny's direction.

"What is it to you, for you my job is ass-kissing on the hill and cleaning up your messes, you have no appreciation for me whatsoever!"

"I don't know, maybe I would have more appreciation if you didn't always bring your boss into things right away! I didn't realize you had become SecNav's manipulated plaything!" he lashed out.

He saw how she visibly recoiled from his words, closing her eyes forcibly to shut down her emotions. He reached out with his hand as if to touch her arm but she stepped back from him before he could reach her, just as the door opened again behind them.

"Agent Gibbs, you will be placed on probation," SecNav announced as he stepped into the room again, "however, I will not suspend you, at least not yet. The reporter is not willing to take back her accusations against you but I have come to the conclusion that you might not be as much to blame here as the press makes it seem." He shot a look to Jenny that Gibbs intentionally disregarded, not willing to think about what that might mean in terms of her defending him. "Nevertheless, be warned, if anything comes up, I will fire you before you even realize what is going on!"

SecNav shot one hard look at each of them. "A good day, Director," he said, then he turned around again and marched out of her office.

As soon as he was gone, Jenny let a tired sigh escape her before she turned to the drink cabinet. "Bourbon?" she asked as she took two tumblers and a decanter out of the glass cabinet.

"What for?"

"To celebrate that we both still have jobs to come back to tomorrow?" She shrugged. "Do we really need a reason?" She looked at him carefully. She had offered the olive branch, even after his hurtful remarks, couldn't he for once just take it and accept the truce?

"I didn't know you were so worried." Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

"He could've asked for my resignation at any moment," she raised her voice, getting angry again. "Having your back is very detrimental to my career aspirations," she added sarcastically.

"Oh, so that's why you have never had my back, Jen," he accused, "not even that time in France when I got arrested and you just looked on. Maybe you should start now."

"And there you go wrong, I have always had your back," she gave back just as hotly, "because it was me who put her job on the line in France to bail you out before you could lose yours. But maybe I should stop now."

He lifted an eyebrow almost cynically. "I don't see you giving up anything."

And in that split second, her decision was made. She picked up the phone and started dialing, waiting until the man on the other end of the line picked up. "Mr. Secretary, I want to inform you of my decision to resign for the office of the Director of NCIS. I feel after the events of this day, the integrity of the office and of the whole agency would suffer if I continued to serve as director. I will always be grateful for the opportunities NCIS gave me, but I feel it is time to step down. You will have my official letter of resignation within the hour. A good day."

She put the speaker back onto the cradle without even letting her boss answer and took an absurd amount of pleasure from seeing the shock on Gibbs face, if only for a moment until she realized what she had just done.

* * *

Thank you all so much for reading this story. If you like it (or even if you don't) please leave a review!


	7. Chapter 6

Sorry about the slight delay, I wanted to update yesterday evening but the wifi was kinda spotty at the airport.

* * *

Chapter 6

Jenny looked him dead in the eye, feeling a hysterical laughter bubbling up in her chest. She had thrown everything away – her career, basically her live, considering she hadn't had any outside of NCIS anymore since her rapid ascension to the top had begun – in a stupid move to show him what she was ready to give up – for him, even if he would never recognize that.

She grabbed the decanter from the still open glass cabinet and poured a healthy measure of bourbon into one of her crystal tumblers, knocking it back, before she suddenly lost her grip on the glass and it fell to the floor, shattering around her.

She felt like crying but she swallowed it down. "What are you still doing here?" the redhead asked as she turned around to Gibbs again. She brushed past him, sitting down at her desk and taking her fountain pen.

"What the hell did you do that for?" he asked back, incredulously.

Jenny didn't answer, instead she began writing her letter of resignation, her small, neat script filling the white page.

"Jen?" he asked again as he went over to her desk, grabbing her arm and stilling her wrist. "What are you doing? Call him back," he ordered.

"And lose even more of my integrity? Thank you very much, Jethro, I think I'll pass on that," she answered, her voice as cold as ice. "Isn't this what you always wanted? Now you'll get a real director again, you got rid of your ex-probie."

She took the picture of her father in his uniform, the only thing that had really made this room her office, and put it in her back. "I'll have Noemi come and get the rest of my personal belongings for me. I would greatly appreciate it if you could lead her up to the office."

She turned around, never once glancing back at him, and went out to the outer office where Cynthia's desk was. "Could you mail that over to SecNav's office as soon as possible, please?" she asked her former assistant. "It is my resignation. I expect Leon Vance to take up my duties by tomorrow."

The young woman stared at her a little surprised before she managed to nod. "I wish you all the best, Director – Ms. Shepard," she said stumbling over her words, clearly still shocked.

"So you're running away again, Jen? Getting out of her before it gets too tough for you?" She suddenly heard Gibbs asking behind her.

"Well, tally them up, Jethro, that makes two times you've driven me away now," she answered viciously, effectively shutting him up as she strode towards the elevator. She had already pressed the button when she turned around to him a last time.

"Keep Ziva on your team," she demanded, "you owe her as much as I."

He nodded, not commenting on her request, as if it had suddenly dawned on him how serious the situation really was.

* * *

"DiNozzo!" he had bellowed as he came down into the squad room again, hitting the agent up the head as he walked past him. The longer he thought about what Jenny had done, the angrier he got. "Tell me we have something for this goddamned case!"

DiNozzo, looking guilty, had jumped up from his chair and grabbed the remote control for the plasma screen, rattling of facts about their victim. He'd tersely sent his three agents out in the field again to question witnesses and had gone down to Abby's himself before he'd stewed in silence for the rest of the afternoon, until Noemi came to pick up the rest of Jenny's things.

Tony being himself had of course nagged him with questions that he'd stubbornly ignored while Ziva had excused herself to make a brief phone call, looking angry at him when she came back.

"Go home," he said finally when it was pushing eight o'clock and they still hadn't caught a break in their case, "come back tomorrow at seven hundred."

The special agent went down to his car, driving through the thick end-of-the-day traffic towards his house as the anger in him flared up again. He made a sharp U-turn in the middle of the road and floored the speed pedal, racing towards her house instead.

They would have the argument that had been brewing between them ever since she'd come back, and he wouldn't let her brush him off anymore.

* * *

Jenny opened the door, slowly entering her house. She set her briefcase down on the small hallway table as she did every day, stepped out of her heels, and put her coat on the hanger – as if this was any other day, if nothing had changed.

"Senora!" Noemi came running from the kitchen, clearly flustered at having been caught unaware. "I didn't know that you would be home early today. I have not finished doing the laundry yet," she tried to explain but Jenny just lifted her hand, indicating that it was fine.

She went to her study, sitting behind her father's desk and looking at the folders that were still strewn over her desk, NCIS printed on them in big, bold letters.

"Noemi," the redhead called, "I've got a favor to ask."

It was only after her housekeeper had left with everything of her past life that had been left at her house that she had allowed herself to cry.

Noemi hadn't even been back for an hour as there was a knock on the door.

"If it is Special Agent Gibbs, don't let him in!" her boss called from the study, still sounding distraught. "Si, Senora!" she answered just before she opened the door to the three men in suits standing outside.

"How can I help you?" she asked politely, her voice tinged with her Mexican accent.

"We are here to speak to Ms. Shepard. If you could please let us pass," the tallest of the three answered, his tone polite, but his voice hard as steel.

"I –," Noemi started as Jenny stepped into the hallway, her gaze sweeping over the men, taking in the earbuds and the not so carefully concealed guns at their sides.

"If you would follow me," she said, mentioning towards the study with her hand. She let them pass, choosing to have them step into the room first instead of having them in her back where she wouldn't be able to see them.

"What does the agency want from me?" Jenny asked as soon as she'd closed the door behind her.

"How –," one of them started to ask but was immediately silenced with a cold glance from one of the other two.

"Easy," she answered anyways. "Three men in suits turning up at my doorstep, obviously connected to someone else nearby," she mentioned to the earbuds, "all carrying. Either someone wants to kidnap me or the CIA has decided to pay me a visit. And kidnappers usually don't politely ask my housekeeper to let them pass."

"Very well," the tallest of the three spoke up again. "My name is Agent Morrison, we have an offer for you." She raised her eyebrow. "We work directly for Director Hoss who has been told by the President that you have resigned from your post as Director of NCIS. As the director believes you shouldn't waste good people, he has sent us to offer you the position of his Deputy Director. You'd be responsible for the counter-terrorism unit, a post that would suit your talents well as our research has shown, and would attend official functions with the director or when necessary on your own."

She felt almost blindsided by the offer, never having expected to get such an opportunity whilst she was at the bottom of her professional career. It was too good to pass up.

"When do I start?"

* * *

Gibbs jumped out of his car almost as soon as it screeched to a halt in front of her house, slamming the door behind him. He took the view steps up to her front porch to at a time, pounding on the door so hard his hand hurt.

"Dammit, Jen, open the door!" he yelled as she still hadn't answered him after almost a minute. He heard a quiet shuffling at the other side of the door, then it opened. He brushed immediately past her.

"What do you want, Jethro?" she asked, her whole demeanor hostile.

"I want to know why you quit your job, Jen. And don't give me that integrity bullshit that you used as a reason on the SecNav, it won't work with me."

"Well, Jethro, that might be because you think it's bullshit when actually it's the honest to God truth. I stuck my neck out for you countless times, and it came back to bite me. They accused me of playing favorites with you, and there was nothing I could say to convince them of the opposite because you stormed into my office as if you owned the place – in fact as if you owned me. But I tell you what, Jethro, you don't. You never did. You might have seen me naked, but that was years ago, and I deserve a lot more respect than you ever gave me even despite that. Or maybe even exactly because of that!" She stepped dangerously close to him, her eyes glittering murderously.

"Is that the fight you wanted, Jethro?" she asked, as if she'd been able to read his thoughts on his way over.

"Forget about it, Jen. I'm not sure if it would even be worth having it anymore," he said, almost spitefully. "Maybe a new director will do the agency some good. Maybe they will have their agents' back."

He roughly turned around and stormed to the door again, pulling it shut behind him. It had almost closed when he heard her say, "Careful about who you anger, Gibbs, I'm not there to set things straight for you anymore. I don't think you're new director would like the first thing he reads about you to be a formal complaint from the Deputy Director of the CIA."

He turned around, stunned, but she'd already slammed the door in his face before he could fully work through what she'd just said.

* * *

First of all, thank you for the amazing feedback I received this past week, I appreciate it so much! I hope you've enjoyed this chapter just as much! Please leave a review.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Personally, I think it is quite impressive. On the other hand, we should have seen it coming, she has always been a rising star, there has always been more that she was just made to achieve," Ducky said, eyeing Gibbs carefully.

It had been three weeks since their former director had quit NCIS and started to reign over the counter-terrorism unit at the agency, but it seemed the special agent still took it very personally.

"You might have convinced your team and young Abigail that you don't care, and you might even pretend that you're glad she's gone, but I think it is time that you admit to yourself you made a mistake – several in fact." The elderly Scotsman continued, deliberately ignoring his friend's sour face. "Just apologize to her and take both of you out of that misery you two have put yourselves in."

"She quit, Duck," was all he said.

"Yes. Why did she quit though?" the M.E. challenged. "You should really talk to her!"

Gibbs mumbled something incomprehensible before he stormed out of autopsy, the doors closing with a whish behind him.

A few hours later, the elderly special agent sat at his desk, silently berating himself. He'd been angry at Ducky and at Jenny – the latter now being more of a characteristic than a condition for him – when he'd stormed into Abby's lap, roughly demanding results. The otherwise so cheerful Goth had nearly cried after he'd berated her for not having found anything at which point he decided it would be better to just leave everything be and try to do some work at his desk.

"I should talk to her," he mumbled to himself, still furious. 'Maybe I should write her a letter!' he added spitefully in his thoughts.

"What was that, Boss?" DiNozzo asked from his desk.

"Nothing!" he answered, more aggressively than he intended to. He pulled his badge and gun out of his desk drawer before he roughly slammed it shut again – maybe it was time to pay her a visit at Langley.

* * *

"Jen!" he yelled, staring frustratedly at the silver metal doors that blocked the way to his ex-lover's new office.

He'd gained entry to the CIA's headquarters easily enough, the security guard at the front desk had even directed him to her office after he'd shoved his badge into his face. In his typical fashion he'd blasted straight past her new assistant, just to be stopped by two muscle-packed agents in suits, neither of them trying to conceal the fact that they were carrying their weapons even in their own building.

"Assistant Director Shepard does not want to be disturbed," the first of them had announced emotionlessly, glaring stonily at him.

"The hell she does," he'd given back, moving to just bypass them as he'd done with her assistant when the two had drawn themselves up to their full height and positioned themselves right in front of him.

"Assistant Director Shepard wishes not to be disturbed," the agent had repeated, sending an almost smug grin in Gibbs' direction.

He moved as if to go away when he suddenly turned around again, the fury taking a hold of him.

"Jen!" he shouted again, not caring who might hear or what they might think.

Her office door was ripped open from the inside, her anger palpable as she stormed into the outer area of her office. "What the hell are you doing here, Special Agent Gibbs?" Jenny snapped furiously as her detail went off to one side. "I think you would've gotten the message that I don't want to see you."

"Oh, it was just me in particular? I thought it was anybody?" he baited her sarcastically, watching as her face flushed even more.

"Are you just here to antagonize me?" she demanded, "or did your coming have a deeper purpose? Have you messed with the media again? Or some lawyer this time and Vance doesn't want to bail you out? Guess what, Jethro, it's your mess to deal with now."

"I am not here because I need you, Jen!" he answered just as hotly.

"Then you better go again, Jethro, because then I see no reason at all for you to even step foot into this building again!"

He looked her in the eye for a few seconds, silently assessing her, then he turned around, marching out of her office.

"I came to apologize, Jen," he said as he was almost out of her sight.

"No, you came to pick a fight, Jethro," she gave back, her voice soft, almost vulnerable. "But as long as you don't learn the difference between the two, you don't have to come back here."

* * *

Her security detail had looked endlessly surprised as she'd given them Gibbs' address after she left the CIA headquarters well after hours and demanded she'd be driven there. They didn't say anything but the questioning look in their eyes still betrayed their curiosity as she sat in the back of the elegant town car, having silently stared at his house for the past ten minutes.

Her thoughts were running wild through her head, her emotions warring on the inside. With a quiet sigh she reached for the door handle, watching her security detail do the same.

"Stay," she demanded softly.

"Are you sure, ma'am? Agent Gibbs did seem rather violent today in your office," the Malcolm, the more senior member of her security team, replied.

The redhead shook her head, her eyes showing her strength but also a normally well-hidden vulnerability. "Jethro won't hurt me," she answered, her mind adding, 'at least not physically.'

Malcolm nodded and relaxed back into his seat as she got out of the car, making her way over to her house. She didn't bother to knock, knowing he wouldn't come up to open the door for anybody and instead just let herself into his entryway. Jenny took a deep breath before she stepped onto the landing and climbed down the stairs into his basement, watching his back as he continued to ignore her arrival in favor of sanding his boat.

"Jethro," she said by a way of greeting.

"What're you doing here, Jen?" he asked warily. "You've made it pretty clear that you don't want to see me."

"I don't want to fight with you, there's a difference, Jethro. I've always wanted to see you."

He snorted. "Didn't seem that way when you decided to run in Paris."

"You will always hold that against me, won't you? I will never be able to make it up to you," she replied her green eyes darkening as she turned her head to the side, unable to look at him.

"I didn't get the feeling you tried very hard."

"I –," she started but he interrupted her again.

"I loved you, Jen, I wanted to ask you to marry me. But you just left, obviously your career was more important for you than I!"

"I've always loved you, Jethro," she replied, leaving herself bare in front of him, "but when I told you, you laughed in my face." She stopped for a moment, collecting her thoughts. "If it came right down to it, I would break you out of prison, that's how much I still love you. But you never let me know I meant anything to you at all, so I thought it better to go. Twice. And now I will go again." She turned around, her fingers toying with the banister as she made her first step out of his basement, silently hoping he would call her back.

She was about to step into his hallway again when she heard his quiet voice, "I'm sorry, Jen."

But it was too little too late and so she didn't turn around.

* * *

Thank you to everybody who left a review so far, I really appreciate it :)

Well, that ended rather quietly (as opposed to the last two chapters). I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter and you'll leave a review as this story heads for its ending :)


	9. Epilogue

Epilogue

"Boss?" DiNozzo called, carefully lifting their victim's jacket.

Gibbs looked up. In his thoughts he'd been in his basement again, reliving the night two weeks ago when she had walked out on him for a third time, even after he'd broken one of his rules for her and apologized.

"Boss?" He forced himself to focus on what DiNozzo was saying.

Taped to the inner part of their victim's jacket were several small bags filled with a white powder. "I don't think this is baking powder," his second in command joked as the elderly special agent knelt down next to him.

"Tag and bag and bring it straight down to Abby when we get back to the Yard, I want to know where this comes from," he ordered gruffly just as McGee called out to draw their attention.

"What have you got, McGee?" he asked.

"Fake ID, boss, but professionally made. He's either a very elaborate drug dealer or a mole someone sent undercover to look into the ring."

"He's got a SIG, but the serial number is scratched off so it could be either way," DiNozzo reported as Ziva snorted quietly behind him.

"He looks like a very ordinary drug dealer but he's just a tad too ordinary in my opinion. I'd say he's a mole and got discovered, that's why he's got that hole circle in his forehead," she explained.

"Square, Ziva, he's got a hole square in his forehead."

"Same difference," she said a little petulantly, "he's been sent undercover."

Gibbs swore lowly under his breath, looking at Ziva and DiNozzo. "Whatever, this means we've got a joint investigation and I've got no desire to work with either sister agency at present."

* * *

They didn't have to wait long once they were back in the squad room until the doors to the elevator opened and a familiar redhead, followed by six men in black, stepped out.

"Shalom, Jenny," Ziva greeted as she got up and kissed her friend on the cheek.

"Shalom, Ziva," their former director replied before she turned to the other three agents in the bull pen. "Special Agents Gibbs, McGee, DiNozzo, these are CIA Agents Owens and Miller," she introduced two of the men as the other four – her security detail – stepped away to the windows.

"Agents Owens and Miller were working with your victim – Agent Bayer – he was our man on the inside of a Columbian drug and smuggling ring," Jenny explained, careful not to make eye contact with Gibbs.

"Your man on the inside on domestic soil? Aren't you overstepping boundaries here, Assistant Director?" her ex-lover asked sarcastically.

"No, Agent Gibbs," she replied promptly, "as Agent Bayer was in Columbia until yesterday when he contacted us to report that he had been tasked with bringing about five kilo of cocaine into the states as a prove of his loyalty. We had clearance for this operation from someone way up the food chain, close to the president. However, before he could report back to us at Langley, we lost contact, obviously that must've been when he was murdered." She stopped briefly, clearing her throat. "You can see that the case should belong to us, Special Agent Gibbs, so I would ask you to hand over all documents you have concerning your latest case."

"Well, what about the fact that he was found with a Navy ID?" Gibbs asked, unwilling to just concede this victory to her.

"That was merely his undercover identity, we needed an explanation why he would be in Columbia at that time and the USS Lynden B. Johnson happened to be near the Columbian coast at the relevant times," she gave back, enjoying her small triumph, a smile playing on her lips.

"DiNozzo," he called, mentioning for his loyal St. Bernard to come over. The half Italian jumped up from his chair, crouching down next to his boss.

"DiNozzo, tell Abby to hand our evidence over to Assistant Director Shepard's agents. As for the Assistant Director, bring her down to the holding cells on the second floor."

"To – ah – lock her up, boss?" he asked, his voice doubtful.

"What do you think you should do with her down there?" Gibbs asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Kinky," was all DiNozzo answered, a grin spreading over his face.

* * *

"What the hell are we doing here, DiNozzo?" she asked sharply.

"What do you mean, Ma'am?" he asked back, trying to keep his nerves down as he thought about what he was about to do.

"You might not be aware of this, Special Agent DiNozzo," Jenny replied with a slight edge to her voice, "but I started working in this building years before you even set foot into it for the first time. I know that there is nothing on this floor but a few holding cells that aren't used for official purposes anymore so I would like to know why you are leading me down here."

"Gibbs wanted me to show you something, Director – ah Assistant Director," he corrected himself, throwing open the door to one of the cells and mentioning for her to go in before him.

The redhead looked surprised but went in anyways, squinting hard at the wall in front of her, trying to discern why she'd been led down there as she heard the door of the cell click into its lock.

"DiNozzo?" she asked angrily. "What is the meaning of this?" Jenny turned around and stormed back to the exit of the cell, furiously shaking the bars. "Let me out of here!"

He looked apologetically. "I'm sorry, ma'am, I'm only following orders."

"This is an order, Agent DiNozzo, let me out of here, now!" she responded, a hint of desperation crawling into her voice as she continued to try to open the door. "I might not be the director of NCIS anymore but I've still got the power to fire you faster than you can blink," she threatened him.

"You won't get any service for your phone down here so I'm not too worried at the moment," he answered more cockily than he felt.

"DiNozzo!" she yelled angrily, her face becoming almost as red as her hair as Gibbs suddenly showed up behind his agent.

"DiNozzo," he ordered, "get out of here."

The half-Italian didn't wait for his boss to reconsider and fled down the corridor.

"Jethro, what do you want?"

He grinned but didn't answer her as he pulled a key out of his pocket and came closer to her cell. "I think I should let you stew in there for a little while longer, you still seem pretty aggressive to me."

Jenny opened her mouth but closed it again right away, swallowing her angry reply. "Let me out of here, now," she commanded between gritted teeth.

Gibbs shrugged his shoulder, silently assessing her for a minute more before he came another step closer to her.

"And if I do that?" he asked.

"I might refrain from suing you and this entire agency," she answered icily.

"That's not a good enough argument," he said as if seriously negotiating about setting her free.

She sighed, silently hating herself for giving in. "What do you want then?" the redhead asked.

He was quiet for a moment, contemplating how forward he should be. "A kiss for a start."

She snorted, her eyes narrowing threateningly. "If you don't let me out of here soon, I might castrate you as soon as I get a hold of a knife."

"I might just leave you in here then," Gibbs replied teasingly.

She looked at him, her eyes narrowing even further. "Okay, you'll get your kiss. But first I want to know what you did this for."

He nodded, coming closer and sticking his key in the lock. "You told me you would break me out of prison," he said. "That that is how much you still love me."

Jenny nodded almost dumbly, her eyes closing for a second before going comically wide, as if she could scarcely believe where she thought this was going.

"Well, I've come to break you out of prison because as it turns out, that's how much I still love you, too."

He turned the key in its lock, swinging open the door. The redhead was still staring at him as if she hadn't comprehended yet what he'd said.

"I love you, Jen," he repeated and watched as a smile spread over her face, a smile he hadn't seen for almost six and a half years that promised him everything they'd had in Paris, Serbia, and Prague.

"I love you, too," she murmured. She lay her lips upon his, promising him a better ending to their love story the second time around, an ending for which they'd always break each other out.

 _ **\- THE END -**_

* * *

Thank you to everybody who stuck with this story! I hope you liked the ending and it wasn't too sudden :)

Please leave a final review, they mean a lot to me!

Also, this was totally inspired by a Castle episode (I think this much is obvious by now) so I just wanted to mention this at the end as to not be accused of plagiarizing.


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